


Silver and Gold

by wincechesters



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Christmas, Crossover, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, F/F, Fluff, Holidays
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-04
Updated: 2014-12-04
Packaged: 2018-02-28 03:00:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,287
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2716433
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wincechesters/pseuds/wincechesters
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jo barely knows Ruby; they're in different Houses and have barely even spoken outside of their shared Defense Against the Dark Arts Class. But that doesn't stop Ruby from asking her out on a date, and they decide to spend the day together in Hogsmeade before Jo heads home for the holidays.<br/>---<br/>A Jo/Ruby Hogwarts AU</p>
            </blockquote>





	Silver and Gold

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the [SPN Femslash Holiday Gift Exchange](http://sapphicas.tumblr.com) for [cerolina](http://cerolina.tumblr.com) based on their prompt: Hogwarts!au gryffindor!Jo and slytherin!ruby 2.0 meeting in hogsmeade before the christmas holiday, or them playing quidditch in the snow (and then drinking butterbeer or hot chocolate) etc.

For the last Charms class of the term before Christmas break, Professor Mills seems to know that everyone is already checked out, their minds on snowball fights in the freshly-fallen snow, holidays with their families and presents on Christmas morning. Instead of trying to teach them something new, she hands out brightly-wrapped candies and chocolates and has them practice summoning charms, with the stipulation that they are only allowed to eat them if they manage to perform the charm correctly and catch the candy in their hands. They’ve been working on _Accio_ charms for weeks and most of them have long-since mastered them, and by the end of the class, all the sixth year Gryffindors and Ravenclaws are hopped-up on sugar, chattering and laughing gleefully as they file out the door.

Jo’s still grinning as she shuffles out of the classroom behind a giggling Anna, both of them giddy with too much chocolate and the excitement of the end of the term. She reaches to the knot of her red and gold tie where it’s nestled against the base of her throat, tugging it loose and undoing the top button of her dress shirt. At her side Anna does the same, tossing her long red hair over her shoulder.

“I wonder if I could use a summoning charm to hit Dean in the head with a snowball,” Jo says, the words tripping too-fast out of her mouth, driven by her sugar-high. “I still owe him for last weekend.” She cracks her knuckles, glowering exaggeratedly at thin air as Anna laughs. They’d been walking through the grounds and enjoying the fresh snow when a snowball had come flying from behind to catch Jo in the back of the head. She’d chased after her friend, but Dean had gotten away by flagging down stern Professor Tran under the pretense of discussing their most recent Arithmancy assignment. And then, to add insult to injury, Dean--the bastard--had winked at her behind Tran’s back.

Naturally, Jo had been plotting her revenge ever since.

“You’d be better off using a charm that throws, rather than summons,” Anna muses. “Cas would probably be able to help you find one. But don’t tell him that’s what it’s for; he won’t approve if he knows you’re going to be using magic outside school.”

Jo rubs her hands together, grinning, as they follow the stream of fellow Gryffindors down the corridor back to Gryffindor Tower. “I’m surprised Dean hasn’t corrupted your poor brother yet.”

“Give it time,” Anna says, smiling broadly. “He’ll be using illegal magic right alongside you any day now.” She pauses to pop another chocolate into her mouth and Jo rolls her eyes affectionately. “Speaking of Cas, he told me today at lunch that he and the Winchesters are trying to get a Quidditch game going this weekend after Hogsmeade. What do you think?”

Jo nods enthusiastically. “I’m always up for Quidditch.” It would be a long holiday without any official school matches, the next one against Ravenclaw not until weeks after their return, and she’d take what she could get. “We should play girls vs. guys this time; we’re way better than the guys are. _If_ we can find a seeker.”

Anna grimaces. “As long as it’s not me again. That was humiliating, last time.”

“Just ‘cause Kevin weighs about seventy pounds soaking wet; of course he’s going to be fast.” Jo pats her friend’s shoulder in mock sympathy but she’s already grinning, excitement for the upcoming game combining with the sugar rush of too many chocolates making her steps bouncy, her bag flopping against her hip. Which--now that she’s thinking of it--actually feels a little light for the end of the day.

Jo skids to a halt. “Crap.” Anna turns to look back at her, concern in her big green eyes. “I forgot my Charms book in Mills’ classroom,” Jo explains. “Go ahead, I’ll meet you in the common-room.”

Anna nods and turns back into the flow of students down the hall as Jo jogs back upstream towards the still-open door of the classroom. Sure enough, her textbook is resting unassumingly on her and Anna’s table, still open to the page on summoning charms. She scoops it up and shoves it into her bag, scurrying back out of the class and turning the corner towards Gryffindor Tower.

“Oof!”

Jo slams into someone coming around the corner in the opposite direction and stumbles backwards, catching hold of the wall and just barely managing to stay upright. The person she’d crashed into doesn’t fare so well and he tumbles to the floor, his books spilling across the hall. A bottle of ink falls out of his bag and shatters, splashing black ink all over his books and the leg of his jeans.

“Shit, sorry!” Jo gasps instinctively, jumping forward to help and stopping dead when she meets the cold eyes of Alastair Graves.

Alastair climbs to his feet, shoving hard at her shoulders, pushing her back. “You want to watch where you’re going, there, Harvelle?” His voice is low and nasal, his tone calm and dangerous.

“Sorry,” she tries, “I didn’t mean to, I didn’t see you--”

Alastair sneers. “Of course you didn’t.” His wand is is in his hand and he flips it between his fingers threateningly. “Maybe I should teach you a lesson.”

Jo’s eyes narrow, her hand going to the pocket of her robes and closing around the handle of her own wand. “I’d like to see you try,” she says, her heart thumping in her chest. They’re not supposed to use magic in the corridors, but hell if she’s going to let a stuck-up seventh year asshole like Alastair curse her just for accidentally bumping into him.

Alastair smiles dangerously, and Jo’s hand tightens around her wand as she braces to defend herself, counter-curses and shield charms springing to the front of her mind, but then--

“Hey Alastair!”

Jo’s head whips around at the same time Alastair’s does at the sound of the voice, both of them turning to see Ruby Masters, a sixth year Slytherin, leaning casually up against the wall, arms crossed over her chest. “Professor Singer wants to see you.”

“You’re lying.” Alastair’s lip curls derisively. “Stay out of this, Masters. This doesn’t concern you.”

Ruby shakes her head, dark wavy hair flicking against her shoulders. “I was on my way to the common-room to tell you.” She shrugs. “If you don’t believe me, fine, but you can be the one trying to explain to him why you don’t deserve detention for not showing up.”

Alastair glares from Ruby to Jo before drawing back with a snarl, shoving his wand back inside his pocket. “Fine,” he says, shoving his books into a pile and waving his wand to siphon off the spilled ink. “But you better watch your ass, Harvelle.”

Jo glares after him as he slips away down the corridor, noticing as she turns back that Ruby is still there, watching her speculatively. “Uh, thanks,” she says. “I could’ve taken him but I’d rather not get suspended for using magic in the corridors.”

“It _was_ true,” Ruby says, shrugging. She pushes away from the wall and making her way over to Jo. “I just happened to have the perfect diversion already in my playbook.” She stops in front of Jo, tossing long, dark hair over her shoulder. Her tie is hanging undone around her collar, the silver and green striped ends resting loose against the white fabric of her shirt. “You got plans for the holidays?”

Jo blinks, surprised. She’s spoken to Ruby a few times, but they’re not exactly friends. “Um, yeah. Anna and Cas and the Winchesters are coming home with me to have Christmas with my mom. You?”

“Staying here,” Ruby replies. “Dad’s away overseas on business so it’s just Meg and me spending Christmas at school.” She raises a sarcastic celebratory fist and Jo surprises herself with a laugh.

“I’m sure it won’t be so bad,” she says. “Lots of my friends have stayed here over Christmas before and they said it was awesome.”

Ruby’s lips curl into a slight smile and Jo’s eyes flick down, tracing the curve of Ruby’s full mouth before she manages to drag her gaze back up to meet Ruby’s. Jo flushes, embarrassed, which only makes Ruby smile wider.

“So, it’s a Hogsmeade trip tomorrow,” Ruby says. “You going?”

“Yeah,” Jo replies. “It’s supposed to be cold as balls but I’m really craving butterbeer. And I still need to buy Anna some more chocolate for her stocking.”

“Do you want to go with me?” Ruby asks and Jo’s jaw drops.

“Uh. What?”

“Do you want to go with me?” Ruby repeats impatiently, looking at Jo like she’s slow.

Jo sucks her lower lip into her mouth worrying it with her teeth. Her stomach flips nervously as she asks, “Like. A date?”

Ruby nods, arching one sarcastic eyebrow. “What? You never been on a date, Harvelle?”

“Of course I have,” Jo retorts, feeling a flush rise in her cheeks. She stares at Ruby suspiciously, trying to see if she’s playing a trick on her and Ruby stares back impassively, waiting. Jo chews her lip, fidgeting with her books and then finally says, “Yes, okay.”

“Good.” Ruby smiles, her wide mouth curling and lips parting to reveal straight, white teeth. “I have some stuff to get from Honeydukes too. I’ll meet you there?”

“Okay,” Jo repeats, and Ruby turns without another word and disappears down the hall. Jo follows suit, turning in the other direction to make her way back to Gryffindor Tower. She barely even registers the trip back, her feet taking her automatically on the familiar path through the corridors until she’s facing the portrait of the Fat Lady.

“ _Aconitum variegatum,”_ she mutters dazedly at the portrait, who smiles benignly and swings forward to admit her.

“There you are!” Anna exclaims, jumping up from the chair in front of the fire. She’s already changed out of her school robes into jeans and a sweater. “What happened, what took so long?” Her brow furrows and she tilts her head quizzically as Jo slumps back against the portrait hole. “And why are you smiling like that?”

Jo raises a hand to her mouth, touching her curled lips before shaking her head to clear it. “You’ll never believe what just happened,” she says, fighting against a spreading grin. “I just got a date with Ruby Masters.”

* * *

The inside of Honeydukes is warm when Jo and Anna step in from outside, shaking snowflakes out of their hair and chafing cold hands to warm them up. Jo’s cheeks are tingling from the biting wind, and beside her, her best friend’s pale, clear complexion is ruddy from the cold over the thick wool of her Gryffindor scarf, wound around and around her face.

Jo unwinds her own scarf, letting the ends hang loose against her chest, and she glances nervously around. The shop is filled with students in the village for the day on the last Hogsmeade trip before the train takes many of them back home for Christmas, striped house scarves standing out in the riot of color inside the shop. Jo stands up on her toes to peer around a lanky Hufflepuff, craning her neck to see if she can spot a particular Slytherin in the crowd.

“Calm down, she’ll be here,” Anna says at her side, one part reassuring and one part teasing. She snags a Fizzing Whizzbee off the shelf at her right shoulder and flicks it at Jo; the candy flies through the air to ping off Jo’s temple and hover around the level of her ear. Jo glares at her friend.

“Thanks,” she says sarcastically, grabbing the candy out of the air and glancing around surreptitiously before popping it into her mouth. It fizzes against her tongue, filling her mouth with the sweet, sherbet taste.

“What are you going to do today anyway?” Anna asks, squeezing through two Ravenclaws to make her way further into the shop. “Did Ruby say anything?”

Jo shakes her head. “No, just asked me if I wanted to go with her. I still have no idea why she wants anything to do with me. We’ve never hung out before.”

Anna peers closely at a plate of fudge samples that keeps refilling itself as it empties, reaching past Cassie Robinson to pick a piece and pop it into her mouth. Her eyes roll back in her head and she groans her pleasure while Jo rolls her eyes.  

“Oh my god Jo, you need to try this.” She snags another piece and passes it to Jo who hums as the sweet rich fudge melts in her mouth. “And that’s not exactly true; she hung out with us a few weekends ago, when we had that Wizard’s Chess tournament, remember?”

Jo nods slowly, remembering the fierce tournament they’d had in the Great Hall one weekend. It had come down to Anna’s brother Cas and their fellow Gryffindor Charlie, and by the time Charlie managed to pull out an impressive checkmate with her knight taking out Cas’ rook in a messy blast of wood shards, they’d attracted quite the crowd of spectators. Charlie’s Slytherin girlfriend Bela had been there and she’d brought a couple of her friends, and now that she thinks of it, Jo does remember Ruby standing at Bela’s side. She also remembers accidentally catching Ruby’s eye when the brunette looked up from the game and caught her looking, before Jo had managed to pry her gaze away, hiding her flush under a loud cheer for Charlie’s victory.

“And we have Defense Against the Dark Arts with them,” Anna continues, “she talks to you sometimes there. Not to mention she’s been coming to all your Quidditch matches even when Slytherin isn’t playing and--”

“Okay! I get it.” Jo shoves her grinning friend in the shoulder, feeling a flush creep up her neck. “I get it, we might as well get married, we’ve been hanging out so much already.”

“Is that so?”

Jo whips her head around, turning to find Ruby standing a few feet away, a smirk curling her full mouth. Her Slytherin house scarf is wound around her neck like so many of the other students in the shop, knotted efficiently and fashionably over the collar of her snug-fitting black coat. Her dark hair is loose around her shoulders, and she’s been in the shop long enough that whatever snow had fallen in it has long since dried, leaving behind a bit of a wave.

“Good to know you already think we should be shacking up, Harvelle,” Ruby says teasingly. “But let’s see how the date goes first, huh?”

Anna snorts inelegantly at her side and Jo can’t decide who she wants to glare at more. Ruby arches an eyebrow at her and Jo ignores the warm curl of interest low in her belly, opening her mouth to retort, but Ruby interrupts her by thrusting a small paper bag with the Honeydukes logo stamped on it in her direction.

“Here,” she says gruffly, her full lower lip catching between her teeth before slipping free. “I got you this.” Jo eyes the package suspiciously and Ruby laughs, the sound low and warm. “It’s not poisoned or anything. If I wanted to poison you I wouldn’t be stupid enough to do it in front of Anna.”

Anna laughs appreciatively as Jo peers inside the package to find four Pumpkin Pasties. She grins in spite of herself, pulling one out and taking a bite.

“Thanks,” she says after she swallows. “They’re my favorite.”

“I know,” Ruby says, and the look she exchanges with Anna is telling.

“Oh my god,” Jo says, turning to glare at her best friend. “You knew all along, didn’t you?”

Anna shrugs in her best attempt at innocence, failing utterly as a wide grin spreads across her face. “Oh look, Charlie and Bela are here,” she says in an obvious attempt at deflection, waving around Ruby to get the attention of the two new arrivals just entering the store hand in hand. “I’m just going to…” she points over her shoulder and slips away, leaving Jo and Ruby alone in the store.

“Your best friend’s about as subtle as a brick,” Ruby comments, edging closer to peer through the crush of students at the two conspicuous redheaded Gryffindors now flanking her fellow Slytherin at the door.

“Yeah, it’s pretty hilarious,” Jo concedes. She turns to look at Ruby and sucks in a breath when their eyes meet, only a few inches between them. Ruby’s eyes are brown, dark and sweet, framed with long, thick lashes and sparkling with a wicked gleam when she catches Jo looking, her lips curling in a closed-mouth grin.

Jo takes a hasty step backward to keep from swaying further into Ruby’s space. “So what’s the plan?” she asks, fiddling with the tail of her scarf. Ruby arches one eyebrow.

“Who says I’ve got a plan? Why don’t you have a plan?”

Jo snorts. “You asked me, so I think it’s your job to have a plan. Isn’t that like, _Dating 101_ or something?”

Ruby crosses her arms over her chest, smirking. “Do I look like the kind of person who follows the rules?”

In the end, they wind up walking through Hogsmeade, scarves pulled tight around their faces against the cold. The snow drifts down in thick, fat flakes, standing out in stark contrast where it lands in the loose strands of Ruby’s hair. They walk silently at first, a little awkwardly, the snow crunching under their boots in the silence between them, but then Ruby makes a disdainful joke about Ravenclaw being in the lead for the House Cup and they’re off, complaining about everything from favoritism among teachers to annoying prefects. Soon they’re laughing, gravitating closer to each other’s sides as they stumble through the snow.

She already knows that Ruby’s pretty good at Defense Against the Dark Arts but she learns that Ruby is second in their year in Potions, an admission that Ruby shrugs off in spite of Jo’s praise. “Yeah, I’m pretty good,” she says, not bothering with false modesty, which Jo finds she likes a lot. “My mom taught me a lot of stuff when I was a kid. I always kinda had a knack for it. Runs in the family I guess.”

Jo looks up from her feet where they’re crunching through the snow to flick a quick glance at Ruby. “I used to do that with my dad too,” she says finally. “He was an Auror. We used to read his old Defense books at night, before he died.”

“Explains why you’re so good at it then,” Ruby says easily, flicking her a sly grin. She meets Jo’s gaze and sobers visibly, her eyes going uncharacteristically soft and she stops, reaching out to touch Jo’s arm. “Hey. Sorry about your dad.”

“Yeah. Thanks.” Jo shrugs. “It was a long time ago.”

“Still sucks though,” Ruby says, and Jo nods. She looks up at Ruby and finds her watching her, her eyes wide and searching. Jo is very aware of how close they’re standing, the steam of their breaths mingling between them.

Suddenly, Ruby grins, her eyes lighting up. “What?” Jo asks, alarmed, but the brunette just grins, a spark in her dark eyes that instantly makes Jo feel wary.

“Look where we are,” Ruby says, tipping her head up to indicate something behind Jo. Jo turns in the direction of Ruby’s gaze and discovers that they’ve found themselves at the Shrieking Shack. The building looms large and dark at the end of the way, draped in snow like everything else but somehow seeming to swallow up the light around it.

“Well this is romantic,” Jo retorts, deadpan, and Ruby huffs a laugh. The building is supposed to be the most haunted in all of Britain, and Jo’s not sure if it’s its reputation or if it’s actually haunted, but she suddenly feels colder, goosebumps prickling her arms even under all her layers.

“Dare you to touch it,” Ruby says and she arches an eyebrow in challenge.

Jo grins, giddy in spite of the shiver of fear that races up her spine. “You’re on--but only if you do it, too.”

“Deal,” Ruby says, matching Jo’s smirk with one of her own.

Jo glances left and right, her throat dry and pulse hammering hard in her veins as she edges up the snow-covered path. At her side, Ruby is tight with energy, her breath escaping in thick puffs of steam in the cold air, their shoulders bumping as they move. She glances at Jo and when their eyes meet they laugh, tense giggles slipping from their lips.

Their steps slow the closer they get, the nearness of the supposedly haunted building seeming to steal away their breath, make the hairs rise on the back of their necks. The door, standing ajar, creaks in the wind and makes them both jump, Jo’s heart pounding hard in her chest, adrenaline shooting like electricity through her body. She glances quickly at Ruby, who gives her a shaky, crooked smile, and together they reach out their free hands and touch the wall of the house.

The second the tips of their fingers make contact, a giddy shriek bursts from Jo’s lips and Ruby laughs, high-pitched and hysterical. They turn to run giggling and stumbling back up the path, stumbling into each other and clutching at each others’ clothes to keep themselves upright as they skid back up the snowy path. When they finally cross over the fence line back onto the main path to the village, they take one look at each other and collapse in a fit of giggles, laughing until their cheeks ache and they can barely breathe.

“That was stupid,” Jo says when she’s caught her breath, grinning in spite of herself and Ruby shrugs, smiling back brightly, her cheeks pink and lips even pinker.

“Yeah,” she admits, “but it was kinda fun too, right?” Jo nods her concession and Ruby winks. “Feel like something hot to drink?”

“Yes please,” Jo says fervently. She flicks an uneasy glance at the other girl. “You--you don’t want to go to Madam Puddifoot’s, do you?”

Ruby shudders. “Please, no.”

“Oh thank God,” Jo says, grinning. “The Three Broomsticks?”

Ruby nods and her hand slips down Jo’s arm, gloved fingers lacing with Jo’s. Jo smiles into her scarf, butterflies dancing in her stomach. She squeezes their palms together and they make their way back towards the inn.

The bell above the door chimes, warmth and the loud buzz of voices rushing over them as they step into The Three Broomsticks. Inside, Madam Barnes has the inn all decorated for the holidays, decorated Christmas trees spread out around the room and garlands wrapped around every available post, and there is festive music piping in from somewhere. The room is filled with their fellow students and a few of their teachers as well as the odd villager, coats and hats and scarves slung over the backs of chairs all around the busy room. Jo chafes at her chilled arms, glancing around the little pub, scanning the gleaming tables for an empty seat.

“There!” Ruby’s hand closes on Jo’s elbow, tugging her forward through the press of people to where Amelia, Ellie and Kevin are pushing to their feet, pulling their coats back on and vacating a booth in the back corner behind the bar.

“Be right back,” Ruby says, leaving Jo to shuck her coat and gloves and slip into the newly vacated table, and when she returns, she’s carrying a foaming tankard in each hand. “You said you liked Butterbeer,” she says, a little defensively, and Jo grins and accepts one of the drinks as Ruby shuffles into the booth beside her, uncoiling her green and silver scarf from around her neck.

Jo raises the tankard to her lips and takes a sip, humming happily as the warmth rushes down her throat, radiating out through her chest to all her extremities. “Oh my god,” she says fervently, taking another sip. “I forgot how amazing this stuff is.”

Ruby looks up, blinks, then snorts into her own Butterbeer. “I can’t take you anywhere, can I?” she says, laughing, then reaches to dab foam from Jo’s upper lip, grinning at Jo’s flush.

As first dates go, it’s a pretty great one. Ruby complains about her older sister Meg and Jo complains about the Winchesters, who might as well be her brothers (an admission that Ruby offers her condolences for, stifling a grin). They talk about their classes for next term and Jo lets slip her plans to become an Auror like her father, in spite of her mother’s wishes, while Ruby just sort of shrugs and says she’ll probably do “something in potions like my mother”. Eventually, Jo gets up to buy them a second round of Butterbeers and when she gets back she pulls the Pumpkin Pasties Ruby had bought her out of her pocket so they can share the remaining cakes between them.

Inevitably, the talk eventually turns to Quidditch.

“You know I woulda had you guys last time if it weren’t for that bludger from Henriksen,” Ruby grumbles, sipping at her butterbeer. “I swear, our beaters are too busy trying to inflict as much damage as possible to protect their damn seeker. They know nothing about _strategy_.” She shakes her head disdainfully.

“Whatever,” Jo says, grinning. “You’re just pissed ‘cause I scored four goals and assisted two more before you _or_ our own seeker got even a glimpse of the snitch.”

Ruby rolls her eyes, pursing her lips to hide an answering smile. “It wouldn’t have mattered if I wasn’t busy watching my own ass. You’d have to score a hell of a lot more than six goals to make up for me catching the snitch, Jo.”

For some reason, the mention of her first name has Jo flushing warm, and realizes just how close she and Ruby are sitting to each other. She can feel the warmth of Ruby all along her left side, their thighs brushing when they shift in their seats. Jo smiles and Ruby smiles back and it’s nice. It’s really nice.

She clears her throat when she starts to flush under Ruby’s heavy gaze, ducking her head to glance at the watch around her wrist. “So, uh. Speaking of Quidditch, the guys and Anna and I were hoping to get a game started right away. Do you want to play?”

“Ditching me already?” Ruby asks, arching one amused eyebrow and Jo snorts, bumping her with her shoulder.

“Of course not. If you don’t want to go we don’t have to. But if you’re up for it, we were going to play girls vs. guys and I know we’ll kick their asses if we have you as seeker.”

A slow, feral grin creeps across Ruby’s lips. “Well why didn’t you say so?” She pushes herself to her feet, winding her scarf back around her neck. “What are you waiting for, Harvelle? We have dudes to crush.”

* * *

By the time their Quidditch match is over it’s nearly dark, the shadows of trees and the surrounding buildings stretching long across the snow. The grounds are nearly empty, most of the students already back inside getting ready for dinner in the Great Hall. Their group of friends make their way up the snowy path, laughing and shoving each other as they head back into the school.

Ruby and Jo follow more slowly behind, Ruby toying with the snitch from Bela’s set which she’d caught only minutes earlier to win the game for the girls’ team.

“Did you see Dean’s face when you caught that thing?” Jo asks, bouncing gleefully at Ruby’s side. “He looked like someone force-fed him Acid Pops.”

Ruby’s full lips curl into a satisfied grin and she shrugs, her hand darting out again to catch the runaway snitch and shove it down deep in the pocket of her coat. “Winchester should know better than to mess with me. You weren’t so bad yourself, Harvelle. I think I saw you score a couple goals.”

“Three, thank you very much. I think I might have competition for you though,” Jo says. “Did you see Sammy’s eyes when you grabbed the snitch out from under his nose? Someone’s got a little crush.” She nudges Ruby teasingly in the side with her elbow.

Ruby makes a show of eyeing the group of their friends ahead of them speculatively, watching as Sam dodges the hand Dean reaches out to ruffle his younger brother’s hair. “He’s cute, but he’s a little young for me,” Ruby teases. “I think I’ll stick with what I’ve got.” Ruby reaches out to tangle her gloved fingers with Jo’s, squeezing her hand tight. Jo smiles into her scarf and she knows that the flush warming her cheeks isn’t all due to the cold.

Their little group finally reaches the school, stomping their feet on the rugs at the door to clear off any snow and avoid the caretaker’s ire. They slow to a stop at the point where Jo will have to split off to go to Gryffindor tower and Ruby to the dungeons where the Slytherin dorms are located. Ahead of them, Anna stops and turns around to glance curiously behind her, her eyes meeting Jo’s and eyebrows going up in a silent question. _You good?_ the expression says, and Jo nods, shooting her friend a grin _._ Anna winks and hurries to catch up to the rest of their friends.

“Well this was fun,” Ruby says and it’s half a question, her dark eyes glittering as she watches Jo’s face. Jo smiles, nodding.

“It was. Thank you,” she says. “I had a really good time. We should--” she hesitates, then pushes on, the warmth of Ruby’s hand in hers a solid reassurance against her insecurities. “We should do it again after the holidays.”

Ruby grins, her lush mouth parting in a predatory smile, and she tugs Jo around until they’re face to face, catching Jo’s other hand in hers. “We should, should we?” she asks, voice low.

Jo nods. “Yeah,” she says, grinning back, and she steps in closer, heart hammering in her chest. Ruby’s eyes flick down to her lips, and that’s all the encouragement Jo needs.

She leans in across the few inches separating them, tilting her head to the right. Ruby’s fingers tighten in hers and she leans in too, and then their lips meet, soft between them. It’s a light kiss, barely more than a peck, lasting just a few seconds, but it’s sweet and warm and Jo smiles into it, feeling Ruby smile back.

They part ways, wishing each other a good holiday, fingers clinging until they slip apart and disappear in opposite directions. When Jo climbs through the portrait hole into the Gryffindor common-room, she finds Anna already there, sprawled out across the floor on her stomach, legs bent at the knee and ankles crossed in the air as she scrawls on a parchment that is already a foot long and growing. She looks up as the portrait hole swings closed, shoving herself to her feet.

“Sooooo. How was it?” she asks curiously.

Jo shrugs as she slumps down into a soft armchair near the fire, turning her palms toward the flames to warm them. “It was okay, I guess.”

“You’re smiling again,” Anna says teasingly and Jo touches her face, realizing it’s true.

“Shut up,” she retorts, but she grins wider and sees her best friend do the same.

**Author's Note:**

> Happy holidays, cerolina! I hope you enjoy this gift as much as I enjoyed writing it for you. <3
> 
> Thanks as always to [Meg](http://myplaceofgreatestsafety.tumblr.com) for betaing and to the mods for hosting this exchange!


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